Blue cheese being recalled by Whole Foods Market over Listeria fears

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Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ:WFM) is ordering a massive recall of a specific type of cheese, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found Listeria contamination. The company has ordered a nationwide recall after the FDA found Listeria monocytogenes in a wheel of cheese.

The contamination was found in one particular cheese called Papillon Organic Roquefort, and the stores have been urged to get rid of them as soon as possible, regardless of the sale-by date. Whole Foods Market’s website stated that all of these types of cheese would be recalled. Though no illness has been reported yet, the illness can take up 60 days to incubate after infecting someone. This also makes the disease difficult to track.

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The FDA has said that people can become so sick, they need to be hospitalized, and can also lead to death in some cases. Elderly people, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems from HIV, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease and transplants at most risk of the disease. The FDA also said that the disease can spread to other foods, when it is brought home, and can also grow and spread when kept in a refrigerator. Customers who have brought the specific type of cheese can bring their receipts to get a refund.

Listeria infections are quite dangerous, with a 20 percent mortality rate. Listeria is accompanied by headaches, stiffness, high fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Whole Foods in its statement mentioned that consumers should seek immediate medical care if they develop these symptoms. Listeria was discovered in 1924, after two researchers found a bacteria causing animal outbreaks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described listeriosis as “as serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, is an important public problem in the United States.